On June 28-30, 2011 Astana hosted the 38th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC CFM) and the Republic of Kazakhstan took over the chairmanship at the OIC.
At the opening session H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan proposed the establishment of a joint food security organisation within the OIC, with headquarters located in Kazakhstan as a food-producing and exporting state. The OIC Member States unanimously supported the proposal of Kazakhstan.
The name and the draft Statute were formulated at the Intergovernmental Experts Meeting of OIC states, held on June 11-12, 2013 in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan.
On December 9-11, 2013 during the 40th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Conakry, Guinea, 19 OIC Member States signed the IOFS Statute (which enters into full legal force after ratification by at least 10 signatures).
On April 28, 2016, the Inaugural session of the IOFS General Assembly was held jointly with the 7th Ministerial Conference on food security and agricultural development. During the Inaugural session of the IOFS General Assembly, the Chair (Saudi Arabia) and Members (Kazakhstan, Burkina-Faso, Niger, Turkey, Bangladesh, Sudan) of the IOFS Executive Board were elected; Director-General was a nominee of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Second General Assembly of Islamic Organization for Food Security was held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on August 27-29, 2019 under Development of Islamic Solidarity through Food Security slogan. In accordance with the agenda, questions were raised about the creation of a food security Database in OIC Member states, and the establishment of a Grain Fund and a Regional Reserve to facilitate cooperation within the organization. Following the forum, a representative of Kazakhstan, Mr. Yerlan A. Baidaulet was elected as a Director-General of Islamic Organization for Food Security. Saudi Arabia was elected as a Chair of the General Assembly, Tajikistan and Gambia as Vice-Chairs, and Kazakhstan as a Rapporteur. The representatives of agricultural Ministries of Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Bangladesh were elected as Members of the Executive Board. During the event, Nigeria signed the Statute of IOFS and became 34th Member of the Organization.
The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud made the decision to allocate $2 million to aid the institutional development of the IOFS. The joint initiative of IOFS and Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan on the creation of a Grain Fund and Islamic Food Processing Association announced by the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan, Saparkhan Omarov was fully supported by the participants.
Two international organizations, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) have gained the status of the Observers of IOFS.
At present, 34 OIC Member States have signed the IOFS Statute:
Kazakhstan (2013), Afghanistan (2013), Bangladesh (2016), Benin (2015), Burkina-Faso (2013), Cameroon (2015), Comoros (2010), Cote d’Ivoire (2016), Djibouti (2013), Egypt (2016), Gambia (2013), Guinea-Bissau (2013), Iran (2013), Kuwait (2016), Libya (2014), Mali (2013), Mauritania (2013), Mozambique (2016), Niger (2013), Palestine (2013), Qatar (2016), Saudi Arabia (2016), Senegal (2017), Sierra Leone (2013), Somalia (2013), Sudan (2013), Suriname (2013), Tajikistan (2016), Turkey (2013), United Arab Emirates (2015), Uganda (2013), Nigeria (2019), Pakistan (2013), Guinea (2013).